


Where the Heart Is

by IncendiaGlacies



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, Moving On, Platonic Soulmates, RipFic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:29:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23085544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncendiaGlacies/pseuds/IncendiaGlacies
Summary: “So, I live. Martin lives. Everyone lives. But Gideon dies?” Rip asked bitterly, not expecting an answer.
Relationships: Gideon/Rip Hunter, Rip Hunter & Waverider
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	Where the Heart Is

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, this didn't turn out as expected. But it's done?

“She’s dead.”

“Excuse me?”

Jax sighed and went to the cupboard, pulling out the scotch. He poured Rip a drink. “Gideon’s dead.” He ignored Rip’s sharp inhale and powered through. “I know you just got back from time hell or whatever, and I know you didn’t want to find out like this, but I don’t see the point in sugarcoating it. Gideon is gone, and no, we can’t bring her back.”

“But-”

“We can’t. We’ve tried,” Jax insisted. “Fixed point in time, just like Oliver’s death. Ever since Crisis, this is it. The new rebooted universe.”

“So, I live. Martin lives. Everyone lives. But Gideon dies?” Rip asked bitterly, not expecting an answer.

“Seems that way. I’m sorry, man.”

Rip stared at the half full glass. “I’m going to need more.” A lot more.

* * *

It took three days and copious alcohol before Rip finally felt up to visiting Gideon’s grave. Up until now, he’d been locked away in Jax’s spare room so his daughter didn’t see Rip’s undoing. Teeny Jackson was adorable and Rip knew immediately that Gideon would have – did – loved her. When he finally sobered up, Rip emerged from the garage, probably still a state to see with bloodshot eyes and a ragged beard.

Jax looked up at him from his breakfast. He nodded. “Ready?”

Rip nodded, trying to ignore the lump in his throat and stinging in his eyes. He was all alone again. Even if Jax was here, the Legends, they had never been his family.

“Good. Take a shower, clean up. We can pick up some flowers on the way.”

Rip nodded and waved to Teeny before heading up the stairs. He grabbed some clothes that Jax had bought for him. Rip hadn’t been on his ship since he’d been back, he didn’t even know where the Waverider was, where Sara and the Legends had taken her. It had been his home and now even that was gone.

He stepped under the hot spray of the water and cleaned himself up. He trimmed his beard and washed his face, returning to looking like the man Gideon had once loved. She’d told him he looked like a baby without the beard and no one would ever respect him as Captain, least of all her. He’d proven her wrong eventually, earning her respect, trust, and he hoped, her love.

Rip stayed quiet on the car ride, he didn’t even have the heart to comment that perhaps Teeny shouldn’t have been with them, but couldn’t deny that the young girl brought a slight smile to his face. They picked up flowers, lilies and orchids, Gideon’s favourite. Rip hadn’t known that. Teeny had to tell him. He had missed so much, he had missed Gideon enjoying life as a human and learning the world around her. He could have helped her so much. He’d failed her again.

Still, the vague details made Rip’s head swim. He knew at some point Gideon turned human. He knew at some point Gideon died. What he didn’t know was how, when, why? Why her and not him.

“We’re here.”

Rip blinked, coming out of the cloudiness of his thoughts and looked around outside. They were in the graveyard. Sluggishly, he forced himself up and out of the car. Teeny ran out and around to come hold his hand.

He smiled at her. “Thank you, Miss Teeny.”

“You welcome.” Teeny squeezed and the trio walked slowly, Jax leading the way.

“She wasn’t religious and didn’t leave much instruction of what to do if she ever…” Jax trailed off.

“She must not have thought it was ever possible,” Rip murmured. Gideon had been invincible as an AI, immortal even. He stopped and leaned over, feeling the pang in his heart. The pain almost brought him to his knees. Teeny hugged him tightly and Jax patted his back.

“I know,” he said softly. Jax could still remember the pain of losing Martin, even if time had been rewritten. He remembered. “Can you make it?”

“Yes, yes, I – I need to say goodbye.” Rip choked up. It wasn’t fair. Gideon should have lived, deserved to live. It should have been Rip.

The three started again, weaving through the grave stones. Jax pointed ahead of them.

“There,” he said quietly.

Rip frowned when he saw two figures at Gideon’s grave. Ray Palmer and a beautiful woman. The couple clearly heard their approach and looked up. Rip stopped short, breathless as he stared at her.

“Rip?” Jax asked softly. “Do you know her?”

Rip stared at her dark hair, her kind eyes, a far off dreamy look on her face. A face that had visited him in his dreams every now and then, comforted him as needed. Of course, he knew her. He loved her. As had Gideon. Rip just never thought he’d have the chance to properly meet her.

He ignored Jax’s questions and walked up to her, barely noticing Ray at her side. Rip reached out and cupped her cheek. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. And she really was. She looked like Snow White; pale skin, dark hair.

Her lips parted and she looked at him in surprise. “You know who I am, Captain Hunter?”

“Rip, you can call me Rip. I’m not a Captain anymore.” He stared at her in awe. “You think I wouldn’t recognize my own ship?”

She smiled gently. “If you still consider me yours then you are my Captain,” she said simply.

“How…”

“Magic. Gideon’s stubbornness.” She turned and looked at the grave sadly, a longing look. Rip reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“I miss her too,” he said gruffly.

“No one loved her as much as we did.”

As much as she had, Rip thought silently. Gideon’s other half. He’d always known the Waverider and Gideon were two separate entities. That the ship herself had a soul of sorts, quiet and calm as she was.

“What do I call you?”

“Doctor Palmer calls me Waverly, I have legal documents saying so. But you can call me what you’ve always called me,” she whispered.

“Beautiful,” he murmured.

She smiled softly. “Gideon called me Love. Her Love.”

Rip kissed her forehead and held her close. When he let go, he placed the flowers at the base of the stone, fingers brushing over the carved lettering. He felt a hand on his shoulder before Waverly led the others away to give him privacy. Even now, she knew him so well.

“I love you,” Rip said into the empty cold air. “Sorry, for not saying it before. For leaving you after I said I wouldn’t. I thought I was saving you. You probably deserved a better Captain than me but you were my best friend. I only wish we’d had more time.”

With a shaky breath he returned to the cohort, gravitating towards his Waverly instantly. She reached out for him at the same time and took his hand, a sad look on her face.

Rip cupped her cheek and held her close. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

“Better now that you’re here, Captain.”

Rip pulled away and finally acknowledged Ray for the first time. He shook the other man’s hand. “Have you been staying with Doctor Palmer?”

Her eyes dimmed as she looked down and Ray placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “She and Gideon lived together,” he explained gently. “She still lives in their old apartment.”

Rip squeezed her hand. “Would you mind a roommate?”

She looked up with surprise and nodded. “That would be most welcome, Captain.”

* * *

Rip had assumed, wrongly, that moving in with his ship turned human would have been strange. He had assumed she would harbor resentment towards him for leaving her and Gideon. Instead, Waverly was always serene and calm. It was a little unnerving to Rip, who had always found it easier to blow up and apologize after the fact. Gideon had always put him in his place, so had Miranda, he was terrified of hurting Waverly though.

Waverly didn’t like to cook and didn’t work; Rip had learned that Gideon used his savings for the both of them and was pleased the money had gone to good use. She did like to explore the world. She told him that it was different to see everything as a human than as a ship, though she desperately missed time travelling.

The two of them fell into an easy routine. Rip was grateful to have some connection to his life before, even if his heart did ache whenever she talked about Gideon. It didn’t take him long to work out that she and Gideon had been much more than friends. Soulmates, is what Gideon had called it. Rip never liked to address the hot spark of jealousy whenever he remembered that.

“Gideon always loved the park.” Waverly held his hand as they walked the path on a beautiful spring morning.

“Any particular reason?”

She laughed. “She would play with Miss Teeny, on the swings and slide. Always wanted a go herself.”

Rip laughed with her, imagining Gideon’s childlike innocence. It was one of his favourite qualities about her. “What was your favourite part?”

“Spending time with Gideon.”

They took a seat on the bench and watched the children play. Waverly squeezed his hand. “Ask. I know you want to, Captain.”

Rip swallowed the lump in his throat. “I can’t.”

“It’s never going to get better unless we talk about it. Don’t bottle it up like you always do.”

Rip looked at her in surprise.

“Did you think only Gideon cared about you during your alcohol binges? I watched and mourned with you both. I loved him as well.”

“How did she die?”

Waverly nodded. “She saved me, sacrificed herself. She took on after you in that way.”

“I wish she would have taken one of my better qualities.”

“Your goodness and selflessness is one of your better qualities. It’s what makes you a Captain. My Captain.”

“Did she suffer?”

“No. It was quick. She-she died in my arms.”

It wasn’t fair. Rip wrapped his arms around her and smoothed her hair. “I’m so sorry, Beautiful. You know it’s not your fault, don’t you?”

“Isn’t it?” she murmured against his neck. “She died to save me. I wasn’t ever meant to be human. Having Gideon made it bearable.”

Rip nodded, understanding completely. Some days it was only for Gideon that he could move on from the deaths of his family. “I hope you’ll accept me as a second.”

Waverly squeezed him tight and nodded. “I did not mean to discount your comfort and presence, Captain Hunter. I apologize.”

Rip kissed the top of her head, running his fingers through her silky hair. “No apology necessary.”

“Can we go home now?”

“Yes.” Rip stood up and held out his hand for hers. She took it and leaned into his side, he relished the warmth and love radiating from her. His beautiful Waverider.

* * *

Rip woke in a cold sweat, knowing immediately something was wrong. He turned to the side and found a silhouetted figure next to him. Frowning, he turned on the lamp at his bedside. Waverly mumbled and curled in tighter on herself. Rip sighed in relief and settled down next to her again, stroking her arm.

“Beautiful?”

“Please don’t make me leave,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Never.” He turned off the light and wrapped his arms around her. “Are you all right?”

“I dreamt of her again.”

“Shhhh.” He stroked her hair and held her as close as he could. “Good dreams?”

Waverly nodded. “It was…intimate.”

Again, Rip felt the hot stab of jealousy and tried to focus on her pain instead. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what it had been like between the two of them, two souls connected by love. He wondered if they fit together perfectly, if they whispered their love in the dark, if Gideon would cuddle with her at the end. He wondered what it might have been like for him to make love to Gideon, just once. If she would have been as soft as he imagined her. If she would have been demanding, dominant in bed. If perhaps, she could have loved him too, just as much as she had her other half.

“And it hurts now that you remember she’s gone,” he continued understandingly. There were many a night when he’d woken up dreaming of Miranda, split seconds from calling her name, only to find the bed empty.

“I think my heart is made of lead. It hurts, my Captain.”

“I know. It will for a long time after, and maybe forever. But the ache does dull.”

“How did you recover?”

He drank. A lot. “I had Gideon, and you. I focused my love elsewhere, remembered what I still had with me.”

“I have you.”

“Forever.”

“You won’t leave me?”

“Never again. I promise, Beautiful. I will be here for however long you want me and then some.”

“You are the kindest Captain I ever had.”

Gideon used to say the same thing, after she had stopped trying to kill him. Rip felt the need to find a Time Courier and go back and punch every undeserving Time Master that had ever dared to touch her gorgeous console. “And yet you still deserve far better, but I will do my best to be worthy of being yours.”

“You are,” she said sleepily, voice like a beautiful song.

Rip kissed her cheek. “Get some sleep. Good night, Beautiful.”

“Good night, my Captain.”

She curled into him and Rip spooned her. He rubbed her back and hugged her like a teddy bear. She fit perfectly against him, like she was made for him. Rip’s mother had loved him first, Miranda had been the one to teach him the importance of love, Gideon had somehow wormed herself inside of his heart without him even realizing…but the Waverider had felt like a part of him from the second he had stepped on board. He knew, it wasn’t the sassy AI, but the ship herself he had loved from first touch, first look. She was his before either ever realized it.

* * *

“It smells wonderful in here.”

Rip smiled at his companion and drew an arm around her waist. “Well, you helped a lot.”

Waverly smiled down at the delicious meal they had prepared together. “Gideon used to love dessert. She said it was the best part of the meal and insisted every meal should constitute of only sweets.”

“I hope you didn’t let her get away with that!”

“Never. I made sure she ate all her vegetables first. She wasn’t very pleased with me, but she always agreed.”

Rip imagined it would be very hard to tell this beautiful and serene woman no to anything. “Did she like chocolate?” She had loved sneaking Jonas bits and pieces of chocolate whenever he wasn’t looking.

Waverly nodded. “She said it was a very important food group. I’m fairly certain she gave Miss Teeny some extra sweets as well.”

Rip hummed and pulled out a decanter of scotch, pouring a finger’s worth into his glass. Waverly frowned at the action.

“Are you upset?”

“No, why would you say that?”

“You drink when you’re upset.”

“Not always,” he insisted. “Sometimes I just want a little nip.”

Her frown deepened. “I don’t like it when you drink.”

He stopped, glass pressed against his lips. With a sigh, he placed it back on the counter. “Fine. No drinking.”

“Did it ever help?” She eyed the bottle warily.

“No,” he said before he could think. The last thing he needed was his sweet companion to follow in his footsteps.

“Then why drink?” She moved the glass side to side, making the liquid slosh about inside.

Rip took the glass from her and poured it back into the decanter. “Because I convinced myself that I felt better with it, felt less, even if I didn’t.”

“What did help?”

“Being with Gideon,” he said truthfully. She hugged him from his side and kissed his shoulder.

“You loved her too.”

Rip nodded silently, throat too closed up to speak.

“She loved you just as much,” she whispered. “We talked about it a lot. What you meant to her, to me. Our Captain.”

“She would sing when I couldn’t sleep, tell me stories, she was always there. And so were you.”

“Even if you didn’t know it.”

“I always knew it. I’m sorry if I didn’t make it clear how much you meant to me before.”

She shrugged easily, never one to hold a grudge or hint of malice. “Gideon was always the lively one, so bright, like fireworks. Most people didn’t notice me. I was more than happy to let her take center stage.”

Where Gideon was stubborn and brilliant like a firecracker, Waverly was like the ocean, calm and lulling until you found yourself out at sea, lost in her. They were perfect together.

“It was her way of protecting you,” Rip realized.

She nodded. “We had some bad Captains, she only wanted what was best for me. I told her you were the good one, took her a while to agree.”

“She came around.” Rip kissed her cheek. “Thank you for always believing in me.”

“Always, my Captain.”

Rip held out his hand for hers. “May I have this dance, Beautiful.”

She laughed softly and nodded. “You may.”

Rip pulled her into his arms and they swayed softly in the silence before he started humming lightly. He hadn’t danced in ages and remembered what it would be like to dance with Miranda in his arms, Jonas laughing, Gideon singing. His family he’d created was now down to one.

“What was it like? Loving her?” he whispered. Being loved by her.

“Like a warm hug, always there to catch you. Don’t you think?”

He nodded, remembering all the times he could count on Gideon, trusted her above all. “I only wish I had the chance to tell her how I felt.”

“She knew.” Waverly rested her forehead against his. “She always did. She loved you too.”

“But she loved you first.” Most, he thought bitterly.

She moved her hand, placing it over his heart. “As you did her,” she said knowingly.

Rip looked down guiltily. Neither of them were each other’s firsts, each other’s happy endings. Not in the conventional way.

“I love you still.”

“I love you too, Captain,” she whispered, glancing up at him gently. She pressed up and touched her lips to his. Rip froze in place, arms still around her yet unable to pull away, and not quite wanting to. When she pulled away, she examined his face. “That was wrong.”

He exhaled slowly, glad she agreed, and nodded.

“Do you not kiss the ones that you love? Gideon and I did it often.”

“Not always,” he said easily, forcing the grip on his heart to loosen. “Usually those kisses are reserved for romantic relationships. And you don’t love me like that, do you?”

“No. You are my Captain. I love Gideon.”

“As did I,” he murmured. But she wasn’t here anymore, neither was Miranda.

She cupped his face, stroking his newly grown beard. “I fear you’ll break whatever heart I have left, Captain.”

“Never.” He placed a hand on top of hers. “You are all that I have left. I’m not saying that’s why I won’t leave, I couldn’t even if I tried.”

“Because I am human now?”

“Because you’re mine,” he said decidedly. “And I am yours. We are bonded, you and I. Since the very first day I saw you. Beautiful.”

Her cheeks dusted a faint pink and she curled up against him as he held her. “I’m grateful to have met you like this, my Captain. I have always loved you.”

“I know.” He knew it in how she protected him, protected Jonas. The quiet subtle acts that Gideon was never in charge of. The glow of lights, low hum from the console, slight increase in temperature. She had done everything she could to show him how much she loved him. “You’ve always been the one place I call home.”

**Author's Note:**

> I think this might be my first fic without Gideon....and 'Waverly' is played by Gemma Chan


End file.
